So much has been going on in the last few weeks I hardly know where to start. The most important thing that happened was the death of Rocky, our German Shepard. After a long battle he gave up on Tuesday, and my mom and I went to the vet and held him as they put him to sleep. That day Nick and I buried his body in the far back yard, making the largest contribution by far to our pet cemetary. We buried him with his favorite cow femur, and mama sewed him up in a blanket. Nick and I got about 2 feet deep before hitting bedrock, and so we surrounded the area with rocks and piled cured oak firewood over the dirt. Tomorrow we are looking at filling in the gaps between the wood with concrete and smoothing it flat. He is already sorely missed.
On a much brighter and earlier note, I attended the APS conference in Atlanta a week and a half ago. Man alive it was grand. I saw so many of the people that I have been readng about for the last few years. I heard them speak and got to interact with tons of other people that are interested in the same things I am. I even saw one of them (whose name I will not mention for fear of being sued) drunk off her butt coming back into the hotel one night. Among many others I saw Daniel Schacter, Elizabeth Loftus, and Anne Treisman. All the talks were incredible. It was also the first time I was identified with the University of Alabama. It was on my name tag. Talks during the day and Irish Pubs at night. It was a grand time.
I suppose the next major adventure type thing was the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert the following week. Man, they rock. And I really mean that. Alot. There was a point in the show when Flea walked out onto stage on his hands. They sound great live, and Snoop Dog even opened for them. He smoked much of the "wacky weed" and sang a whole song that consisted of the words "What are we going to do? Get high, get drunk, and fuck." That was the whole song. Sometimes he said, "ATL?!" Yep. The Chili Peppers mostly played stuff from By The Way with a few older songs mixed in. They came on for one encore and played Under the Bridge. We all banged on the bleaches for at least 5 minutes to get them to come back out. Then we went to a gay bar because all the other bars were closed on Sunday night after 12. It was not as grand as the concert, but what can you do? They didn't even have Bushmills. Urrrrggggh. The next day I drove home and slept. Alot.
Yesterday I went to Camp Sumatanga to see Jennifer do what she does during the summer. She runs a retreat-type camp for High Schoolers and Pre-teens. It was a beautiful day. I got there at 5:30am and we hiked up the mountain that the camp sits on and had breakfast in an open-air chapel. The rest of the day I followed her around and tried to be as helpful as possible. By the end of the day I read a prayer at the Vespers service they had, and helped Jennifer lead a discussion group on Peacemaking. It really was a fun day. She has a great open mind about the religion and such, and it reflected well in what I otherwise thought might have been something akin to Catholic Youth Day at Six Flags. But I was very pleasantly surprised.
Today, Friday the 13th, I went to buy a filing cabinet. As I was paying for it the check-out lady asked me if I was superstitious. I said yes, sort of. She pointed up and I saw that I was purchasing this filing cabinet in aisle 13 on friday the 13th. Peeg told me not to put any important documents in it. To tell you the truth, with my luck, I probably should return it and trade for another one. Also, my palm pilot died. That means one of my arms is now cut off, effectively. My cell phone was in it, all my appointments, addresses, etc. Luckily it is baked up on Stan (my computer) and can be restored to another. But I may be purchasing a lap-top fpr grad school (it is highly recommended by many people) so that may replace Joe's love affair with the handheld computer. Speaking of Grad school, I got an email today from the director of my program saying that my office was ready to be moved into. Whoa. I have an office. Its Gordan Palmer 190 for those of you that attend or have attended the 'Bama. Orientation is the 13th of August, and Nick and I move in to our house on the 12th. Stuff is about to get crazy all over again.
Sorry this post is solong, but I had much to talk about. If you've made it this far, you rock.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe